Factory procurement managers remain very active for stock, with quotes holding from last week.

Some of the weaker outfits have had to increase quotes this week to get cattle.

Heifers are working off €4.25/kg, with all quotes for bullocks now up to €4.20/kg.

There have been a few cases of bullocks being paid out at where bullocks have been included with large loads of heifers.

There aren’t huge numbers of cattle out there being fed at grass on farms, so the likelihood of rain applying any pressure to beef supplies is looking increasingly less likely.

Flat prices are still part of the offering in some smaller outlets, with as high as €4.70/kg being paid this week to secure Aberdeen Angus heifers.

Trade north of the border also continues unchanged, with steers working off the equivalent of €5/kg including VAT, with heifers working off €5.05/kg including VAT.

Bull trade

Bulls are working off €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg for R grading bulls, with 5c to 10c/kg extra going for U grading bulls.

Younger under-16-month bulls are working off €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg on the grid.

Cows

Cows remain a very good trade, with good R grading cows now trading at €3.90/kg.

U grading cows have edged up a little, with some of the smaller factories that specialise in handling cows moving to paying out €4/kg to €4.10/kg.

Fleshed O grading cows are coming in at €3.70/kg, with P3 cows generally working off €3.60/kg to €3.65/kg.

Across the water, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has reported that the UK imported 19,800t of fresh and frozen beef in July, which was up 9% on June 2021 imports and up 15% on July 2020.

In terms of beef, imports from Ireland to the UK grew by 9% year on year.

The ADHB predicts that the beef trade will continue to perform strongly for the rest of 2021.